How do I know if my House needs re-wiring?

Everybody knows that appliances wear out over time, but did you know that your fixed wiring also wears out with time? You can contact us by phone on 01283 732323 or 07798 575722 to arrange for a free inspection to outline any possible problems with the wiring within your property and obtain a free written quotation for the updates. Below is listed some common items which we find in older electrical installations, it is recommended that if you do not have a current electrical certificate for your installation then you should have a periodic inspection carried out, this is due to the fact that someone may have changed the old switches and sockets etc in the installation to modern units but reused the old cables.

Here is a list of 8 common things that show that your house may need rewiring due to the age of the installation: 1. Can you see any cables that look like they are made of rubber? These are black in colour and might be seen going in to the fuse board.  2. Light switches are like or similar to the old picture on the right and my be mounted on wooden bases. 3. Sockets are like or a similar style to the old one pictured right, and/or are mounted on the skirting boards. 4. Are the fuse boards for your house mounted on wooden back plates, do they have rewirable fuses or have cast iron switches? Is there a haphazard mixture of different boards like the old ones pictured on the right? 5. Do the cables that hang from your ceiling to a light fitment appear to be like 2 bits of string platted together? 6. Are any of the accessories in your house made of bakelite or porcelain like the old ones pictured? 7. Are there any round pin sockets within the installation that are still in use? 8. Is there a wall mounted light switch or any sockets (apart from shaver sockets) in your bathroom? If any of these items are present then your home may be in need of a rewire or at least updating to meet the current edition of the BS7671 Electrical wiring regulations. Call us for a free written quotation on any works that may need to be carried out to bring the installation up to meet the modern requirements.

Old style items Modern Style items   Old Light switch Modern Light switch     Old porcelain accessory    Modern accessory       Old style socket   New style sockets       Old Fuse Boards   New style consumer units

Cabling in older installations

In many older installations the cables used are rubber or cotton covered, rubber cables with age go brittle and the insulation drops off, making them dangerous. Cotton covered cables rot and obviously also present a dangerous hazard. These have been phased out over a period of time and replaced by modern double insulated PVC cables which last longer and do not go brittle or rot. 

Accessories in older installations

Older accessories like the light switches and sockets may not meet modern requirements and may be made of such materials as wood, porcelain and bakelite. All the modern accessories are made of plastic or metal. 

The Old installations fuse boards

Rewirable fuses may also be installed in your installation, these although still meet the BS7671 electrical wiring regulations they are considered a hazard to use due to the obvious danger that someone could replace the fuse wire with a piece of copper wire or suchlike. Modern breakers trip faster than fuse wires can blow in the event of a fault. For these obvious reasons the modern way is to install circuit breakers in to the installation in preference to fuses.